Rangers Redone
by ijnfleetadmiral
Summary: The Mighty Morphin series redone with different characters and a few other changes. Rating updated for language and for later chapters, just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1: Evil From Outer Space

**RANGERS REDONE**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own the **_**Power Rangers**_** franchise; last I heard Saban bought it back from Disney or something like that. Nor do I own the idea of Zedd's race; that part came from a fanfic entitled _Never Too Late_ by Ellen Brand.**

**All I own are the names of the Rangers, and a couple ideas that will be introduced later.**

**The majority of the dialogue is taken from the series premiere episode **_**Day of the Dumpster**_**, with modifications to fit my story. Other ideas are taken from the Season 2 premiere episode **_**The Mutiny: Part One**_**.**

**Premise:**** Basically the same as the show except for the following differences:**

**1) Zordon chooses six different teens to be Rangers.  
2) Zedd and Rita are together from the start.  
3) Rito Revolto is also a part of the series from the start, but other than that, he's the same.  
3) There are six Rangers from the start: White, Black, Pink, Blue, Yellow, and Red.  
4) Other differences will be explained as the story goes on.**

**Other than that, enjoy!**

**CHAPTER ONE - EVIL FROM OUTER SPACE**

The surface of the moon was desolate, the only thing of beauty being the Earth hanging in the sky above. The two astronauts slowly made their way toward a nearby crater, still keeping in mind not to stray too far from their ship.

Their peacefull, idyllic moonwalk was suddenly and rudely interrupted by a huge robotic dragon landing on the moon's surface. The two space explorers could only stand there and gape at the gargantuan thing. It was certainly bigger than anything they'd ever seen in their lives, and the expression on the dragon's face didn't exactly scream 'friendly'. They started shaking in fear, knowing that whatever was inside the thing, it wasn't good.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the dragon's cockpit, a being sat on a throne above the pilot's seat. The being was tall, nearly six-five, with a metal plate and grill for a face, and absolutely no skin. He was Lord Zedd, Emperor over all that he gazed at. At the control panel was his faithful servant, Goldar, a winged dark blue space monkey in a golden suit of armor.

Zedd glowered down at the driver of his personal zord, known to all as the mighty Serpentera. He was just about to speak when the door to the corridor slid open and in walked his brother-in-law, Rito Revolto, who was a skeleton in a suit of bone armor. The Emperor of Evil inwardly groaned and waited for the skeleton to speak. Rito was a great warrior, to be honest, but he'd kinda been skipped over in the brains department.

Zedd didn't have long to wait, as Rito strolled right over to the throne and slung his arm over the back before bending down to address his relative.

"Ed, when're we gonna stop for lunch? The short blue guy ate everything in the kitchen, and we've already passed three Burger Lords in two hours! I mean, come on...have a heart!"

Rito then turned and noticed Goldar at the controls.

"Hey Goldie, are we there yet?"

Serpentera's driver whirled to face his questioner.

"It's GOLDAR, you idiot...GOLDAR!" he snarled.

"Oh, riiiight..." Rito trailed off, digesting this latest piece of information, before repeating his previous question.

"Are we there yet?"

Goldar growled an unintelligible response, although Zedd was fairly sure whatever his pilot had said wasn't exactly polite. Rito simply began repeating his question over and over, while Goldar gripped Serpentera's controls harder and harder, until Zedd was worried the steering column might snap off under Goldar's vice-like grip. Come to think of it, he was getting pretty annoyed with Rito himself...

"SILENCE!" he roared, and barely held back laughter at Goldar's mutter of '_thank_ you!'. He was about to continue when he heard a noise that made him cringe.

"ZEDDY!"

His wife, Rita Repulsa, strode into the command chamber, her tan robes flowing behind her. Around her neck was an elaborate collar, nearly three sizes too big; Zedd personally thought the thing was hideous, and had no earthly idea why his wife wore it. Nor did he have any idea why she wore the odd twin-horned silver headdress she was so fond of; it was the only thing weirder than the collar get-up. But it was what she wanted to wear, so he let her go and kept his mouth shut.

"Yes, my dear?" he asked wearily.

"Well? Where are we?" was his wife's next statement.

"A nice, desolate moon, my love," Zedd replied, and then gestured out the forward viewscreen. "And look...a planet ripe for invading!"

Rita cackled with glee. "By the time we're through, they won't know what hit 'em!"

Zedd was about join in laughing when he realized the other members of their 'family' hadn't bothered to come with Rita. These were Finster, a white-haired wizened-looking alien, Squatt, a blue-skinned hobgoblin whose intelligence matched that of a dustbunny, and Baboo, a black-and-white vampire-ish creature with somewhat-deformed wings.

"Where are the other three?" Zedd demanded.

"Back in the common area, Zeddy," Rita replied. "And don't worry...I left Finster in charge; it'll be fine."

"FINSTER?" her husband exploded. "You left FINSTER in charge? He might be a fine monster maker, but he's not really authoritative when it comes to saying things like, 'No, don't set that on fire' or 'Don't touch that lever; you'll blow out an airlock'!"

"Oh, don't be a worrywart, Zeddy!" Rita snapped. "And besides, Baboo's also with him; he'll do all right!"

"Baboo...HA!" Zedd growled. "If Baboo's considered intelligent, then THIS one," he gestured to Rito, "is a certified genius!"

Rito grinned and approached Zedd, slinging a comradely arm around the boss's shoulder.

"Gee, thanks for the compliment, Ed! Always knew you'd warm up to me!"

"IT'S ZEDD, YOU MORON...ZEDD!" The Emperor of Evil screamed, his hands just itching to throttle the skeletal twit.

"Never mind that, Zeddy!" Rita admonished. "Let's set up the palace and get ready to invade Earth!"

"I beg you, my Emperor...let me lead the first attack!" Goldar prostrated himself before Zedd, who looked on him with contempt.

"Out of the question! I may need you here for more important matters! Our initial attack will be led by an old friend of yours, Rita," he replied. "Tell me...do you think you could get in touch with Scorpina?"

"Of course, Zeddy!" his wife replied. "In fact, she's currently dormant on Earth! All we'd have to do is wake her up and tell her our plans...she'd be glad to help!"

"Excellent!" Zedd proclaimed. "And when those puny Earthlings get a taste of Scorpina's wrath, they will all bow before the might of the great Lord Zedd!"

Serpentera's cockpit was filled with the sounds of evil laughter as the Emperor and Empress of Evil finalized their plans.

* * *

The Angel Grove Youth Center was filled with the sounds of teenagers glad to be done with another school day. Jeff Anders and his best friend J.W. Price were on the workout mats, sparring. Marcus Howard had been watching them, but was now gazing longingly at Jenna Winford, captain of Angel Grove High School's girl's basketball team. He'd had a crush on her ever since eighth grade, but could never seem to make a move.

In another part of the room, J.W.'s sister Kendra was encouraging head cheerleader Taylor Cain as she went through another gymnastics routine. Taylor loved gymnastics, and was considered by many to be good enough to compete professionally, but she always declined any professional offers, stating her wish was to become a veterinarian, a perfect career choice due to her love for animals.

And over by the juice bar, engrossed in a book, was Mischa Fox, who was known to all of AGHS as the school's only certified genius. She was only fifteen, but was a junior. With her smarts, she could've easily gone to college at the age of twelve, but she'd put her foot down and demanded at least a slightly normal childhood. She claimed being skipped two grades in school was enough, and her near-impossible 5.0 GPA boggled the mind of her teachers and school officials alike.

Mischa was a whiz at computers, and when AGHS's computer lab had gone down unexpectedly, rather than wait for professionals to come and repair them, Principal Caplan had let Mischa try her hand at fixing the problem. Thirty minutes later, the lab was up and running again, and Mischa was denouncing the virus she'd found to 'have been built by a bunch of trained monkeys'.

The Youth Center's occupants were going about their business until suddenly the building began to shake. This being California, a building shaking usually meant an earthquake, so nearly everybody headed for the exit. Marcus, Taylor, and Kendra immediately headed over to Jeff and J.W., which Mischa merely continued reading her book, seemingly out of touch with the rest of the world.

* * *

Meanwhile, out in the mountains, the earthquake was being felt as well. In an odd-looking building that was designed to blend in with the rest of the landscape, a small robot named Alpha 5 was panicking like the citizens of Angel Grove.

"Danger! Danger! It's the big one, I know it! We'll all be destroyed!"

His associate Zordon, an interdimensional being from the distant planet of Eltar, watched with bemusement from his energy tube.

"CALM DOWN, ALPHA...IT'S ZEDD AND RITA. THEY HAVE FINALLY COME TO THIS PART OF THE GALAXY AND THEY ARE ATTACKING THE PLANET."

"Ai-yi-yi! What do we do?"

"TELEPORT TO US SIX OVERBEARING AND OVER-EMOTIONAL HUMANS."

If Alpha could use human expressions, he would've looked at Zordon with an expression that would've clearly said, 'Oh, crap!'.

"No, not that!" Alpha pleaded. "Not...teenagers!"

"THAT'S CORRECT, ALPHA," Zordon replied, a slight inflection of humor in his voice at his robot companion's reaction.

"I was afraid of that," Alpha muttered, but moved to do as Zordon instructed.

* * *

Back in Angel Grove, the earthquake continued. Jeff and his five friends were huddled together, preparing to head for the door, when J.W. noticed Mischa still reading her book, looking as if she didn't have a care in the world.

The wrestling team captain gaped at the young woman sitting there so unconcernedly. He had to admit she either had guts or a death wish, but he didn't want to see anyone killed if he could help it. Breaking away from his friends, he managed to make it up the steps leading to the juice bar area and over to Mischa's table.

"Are you crazy? You just wanna sit there and be killed? It's a earthquake...get up and move!" he yelled at her over the commotion.

Mischa glanced up at him, and after apparently deeming him uninteresting, turned her attention back to her book.

"It'll stop eventually," she replied before calmly turning a page.

J.W. swore under his breath before reaching down and scooping her into his arms. Mischa started to struggle almost instantly.

"What the hell are you doing? Put me down immediately!"

"I'm possibly saving your life! You're welcome, by the way!" J.W. snapped in return as he headed back down to rejoin his friends.

No sooner had he reached them than Alpha's teleportation sequence activated.

"What's happening?" Taylor's voice was nearly hysterical.

"Hold on!" Jeff yelled to everyone else, seconds before the six teens disappeared in different colored beams of light.

Only seconds later, the teens arrived at the Command Center, falling in a heap on the floor.

"It's not exactly the mall," Taylor murmured.

Mischa was looking around the room like someone who'd just won a $300 million dollar Powerball Lottery.

"This place is magnificent!" she enthused.

"I don't get it...how'd we end up here?" Jeff demanded.

"I just wanna know where 'here' is," Kendra put in.

"Maybe the answer's in this computer," Mischa replied, and began looking at the many control panels in an attempt to figure things out.

"I think I've found the master panel," she announced less than ten seconds later, causing all three guys to look at her in amazement.

"Alien technology, and she manages to figure it out in the space of ten seconds...incredible," Marcus murmured under his breath, obviously impressed.

"I've heard she was a computer whiz, but that's scary," J.W. murmured.

"The government must be watching her like a hawk," Jeff put in.

Mischa heard their comments and rolled her eyes.

"In response to your comments, guys, one, it's not hard to figure out if you've perfected the basic layout of any computer, two, thanks for the compliment, and three, apart from a few shining examples - which aren't all that shiny to begin with - those idiots wouldn't know their ass from a hole in the ground."

Mischa moved to touch what she deemed was the master panel.

"No, don't touch that...whoooaaa!" a robot exclaimed, moving to stop Mischa before suddenly losing its footing and falling flat on its face.

If Mischa looked like she was in heaven before, she was even more ecstatic now.

"Incredible...a fully sentient, multifunctional automaton! I've never seen anything like it!"

"WELCOME, HUMANS," Zordon greeted, immediately attracting the group's attention.

"Uh-oh..." Marcus murmured.

"So who are you?" J.W. asked.

"More importantly, _what_ are you?" Taylor added.

"I AM ZORDON, AN INTER-DIMENSIONAL BEING CAUGHT IN A TIME WARP."

"And my name is Alpha 5," the robot put in.

"Ok, but why'd you bring us here?" Kendra asked.

"IT IS QUITE SIMPLE," Zordon replied. "THIS PLANET IS UNDER ATTACK, AND I HAVE BROUGHT YOU HERE TO SAVE IT."

"Yeah, right," Jeff muttered, causing Taylor to giggle.

"AH, A NON-BELIEVER," Zordon stated. "LOOK BEHIND YOU AT THE VIEWING GLOBE. YOUR DOUBTS WILL BE ANSWERED IN THE IMAGES YOU SEE."

The six teens turned to the device Zordon indicated, which looked like a large crystal ball. At first the picture was nothing but static, but soon showed pictures of Zedd and Rita.

"Oh, eww..." Taylor proclaimed when she laid eyes on Zedd.

"THIS IS LORD ZEDD AND HIS WIFE RITA REPULSA, AN INTERGALACTIC WARLORD AND HIS SORCERESS WIFE, BOTH BENT ON CONTROLLING THE UNIVERSE. WITH THEIR HENCHMEN AND PUTTY PATROLLERS, THEY PLAN TO CONQUER EARTH."

"What does all of this have to do with us?" Kendra asked, turning back to look at Zordon.

"YOU'VE BEEN CHOSEN TO FORM AN ELITE TEAM TO BATTLE ZEDD AND RITA. EACH OF YOU WILL BE GIVEN ACCESS TO EXTRAORDINARY POWERS DRAWN FROM THE ANCIENT EARTH CREATURES YOU CALL DINOSAURS."

"Dinosaurs?" Taylor commented skeptically.

Suddenly belts appeared on the waists of all six teens, the buckles of which got all their attentions.

"BEHOLD: THE KEYS TO YOUR POWERS," Zordon intoned.

"Whoa...what are these?" Marcus held up his buckle for closer inspection.

"THOSE ARE YOUR POWER MORPHERS. WHEN IN DANGER, RAISE THEM TO THE SKY, CALLING THE NAME OF YOUR DINOSAUR, AND YOU WILL MORPH INTO A FORMIDABLE FIGHTING FORCE KNOWN TO ONE AND ALL AS THE POWER RANGERS."

"Morph?" Taylor asked.

"Metamorphosis, which means 'to change'," Mischa responded automatically, still looking like a wanderer who'd finally found her home.

"AS POWER RANGERS, YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO A UNIVERSE OF POWER, AND WILL COMMAND A FLEET OF FIGHTING MACHINES CALLED ZORDS."

"I don't get it," Kendra replied.

"J.W., BOLD AND POWERFUL, YOU SHALL COMMAND THE TYRANNOSAURUS DINOZORD. MARCUS, YOU ARE CLEVER AND BRAVE. YOU SHALL COMMAND THE MASTODON DINOZORD. TAYLOR, GRACEFUL AND SMART, THE PTERODACTYL DINOZORD SHALL BE YOURS. MISCHA, PATIENT AND WISE, YOU SHALL COMMAND THE POWERFUL TRICERATOPS DINOZORD. KENDRA, FEARLESS AND AGILE, THE SABER-TOOTHED TIGER DINOZORD WILL BE UNDER YOUR COMMAND. JEFFREY, A BORN LEADER, COMMAND OF THE MIGHTY TITANUS SHALL BE YOURS. OBSERVE THE VIEWING GLOBE."

The six teens did as instructed as Zordon continued his explanation.

"JUST AS THE SIX OF YOU WORK TOGETHER, SO DO YOUR ZORDS. WHEN YOU NEED HELP, YOU NEED ONLY TO TURN TO THE POWER OF THE DINOZORDS, WHICH, WITH TITANUS IN SUPPORT, WILL COME TOGETHER TO FORM THE MIGHTY MEGAZORD."

"Power Morphers? Megazords? Uh-uh," Marcus balked, turning to address Zordon. "Sorry, but this is just too weird for me. It's been real, but I gotta go."

"Yeah, see ya," Taylor followed him.

"You guys coming?" Marcus asked the others. "Jeff, J.W.?"

"What?" J.W. responded absently, still thinking about what he'd just seen.

Jeff shook his head in awe, but followed his girlfriend and Marcus. Kendra touched her brother's arm.

"Are you coming?"

J.W. sighed, but nodded and followed his sister. Mischa reluctantly followed the others, the expression on her face showing she was deep in thought.

"VERY WELL, THEN," Zordon responded. "LET THE POWER PROTECT YOU."

"Well now, that didn't go very well, did it? Ai-yi-yi..." Alpha muttered resignedly.

* * *

"What's this?" Zedd exclaimed when he felt the transfer of the powers.

Rita noticed the change in her husband's stance and hurried over. "What is it, Zeddy? What's wrong?"

"Zordon of Eltar is on Earth, and thinks he can stop us with six pitiful teenagers!" Zedd responded, and Rita's eyes widened in surprise at hearing the name.

"Zordon? That can't be, Zeddy...he was destroyed during our last conflict with him!"

"So we thought, but we were never able to fully confirm it," Zedd replied, before turning and gazing out at Earth from the balcony of his and Rita's newly-built palace on the moon.

"So, Zordon, my eternal enemy, this is where you've been hiding for the last 10,000 years!" he growled. "Well, your time has come! Earth will be mine, and there is nothing you can do to stop it!"

He whirled around to face his army of Putty Patrollers, standing dormant off to one side, and raised his staff.

"Those fools don't know who they're messing with! Arise, my Putty Patrollers! Go down to Earth and destroy those teenagers!"

"Those Putty Patrollers'll make space dust outta those kids!" Squatt enthused, with Baboo nodding in eager agreement beside him.

* * *

The six teens walked outside the Command Center to find themselves in the middle of nowhere.

"Great...he could've sent us back into town," Taylor complained.

The teens continued walking, but uncertainty soon overcame one of them.

"We shouldn't have left, guys," Jeff stated. "I mean, he chose us to save the world."

"I agree...I say we do it," J.W. seconded.

"Do you really think we can?" Kendra asked her brother.

"Hey, guys, you don't even know what you're talking about. I mean, we were talking to a giant floating head," Marcus put in.

The peacefulness of the day was interrupted by a large explosion very close by.

"Everybody down!" Jeff yelled.

"What was that?" Kendra asked, crouching down with the others.

Seconds later, the group found themselves surrounded by odd-looking beings in silvery outfits, who wasted no time in letting the teens know they hadn't shown up to be friends.

"Get 'em!" Jeff yelled.

Jeff, J.W., and Marcus immediately dropped into defensive stances. Kendra, having also taken martial arts classes, followed. Taylor attempted to use her gymnastics agility to escape, while Mischa - whose field was the sciences and not hand-to-hand combat - simply relied on her observation skills and her wits.

It was soon quite obvious the silver aliens were gaining the upper hand, and soon all six teens were in heap on the ground, the Putties standing in a group a short distance away, waiting for them to get up and make their next move.

"This day is too weird!" Taylor complained.

"What do we do now?" Kendra put in.

"Zordon said these Power Morphers would give us power," Jeff reminded them. "Let's do it!"

The group got to their feet, pointed their morphers at the sky, and followed Zordon's instructions.

"Titanus!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Even with their new powers activated, the Putties still proved to be a formidable match for the Rangers. At least, they did until J.W. found their secret. The Red Ranger was fighting three Putties at once, and when he punched the 'Z' on the chest of one of his opponents, he was stunned to see the being reel back as though he'd been dealt a fatal blow. Before J.W. could do anything , the Putty shattered like a piece of pottery that had been dropped on the floor and vanished.

"Guys, I found their weakness! Aim for the 'Z' on the chest!" J. W. yelled.

With various shouts of acknowledgement from the others, the battle continued. Armed with the knowledge on how to defeat their opponents, the Rangers quickly cut them down to size. Within five minutes, all the Putties had been destroyed.

* * *

"What? Impossible!" Zedd roared, upon seeing his Putties defeated so easily. He turned to his wife.

"Wake up Scorpina...she'll make snacks out of those pesky teenagers!"

* * *

Back on Earth, the six newly-minted Rangers glanced around, looking for more Putties but finding none.

"Ok, how do we get these outfits off?" Taylor wanted to know.

Her question was answered by an evil-sounding female laugh. The Rangers turned to see an attractive young Asian woman dressed in gold battle armor.

"Rangers, behold your doom! I am Scorpina, ally to the great and all-powerful Lord Zedd! He has ordered me to destroy you, now prepare to die!"

"Ok, what, exactly, did we do to deserve all this hate?" Taylor inquired to no one in particular.

"Standard superhero kinda deal," Marcus informed the group, not that anyone was really listening. "There's almost always a hot dominatrix or Amazon-looking chick wanting to kick the hero's ass."

"THAT'S your explanation for this?" Kendra looked at the Black Ranger like he'd lost his mind.

"Well, yeah," Marcus apparently found nothing wrong with his statement. This prompted a discussion between everyone.

Meanwhile, Scorpina had brought her fighting blade up into an offensive stance, and the weapon itself was now glowing with energy. Mischa noticed what was happening, and tried to get the attention of the others.

"Um, guys, based on my basic knowledge of weapons, blades don't glow like that, so it's almost a certainty that something bad will happen when the energy contained in said blade is released, and we will probably be victims of it."

J.W. heard what she was saying and looked at her, tearing his attention away from the others.

"What are you talking about?"

At that moment, Scorpina brought her blade outward in a slashing motion, sending a bolt of energy whipsawing its way amongst the Rangers. All six were hit and sent crashing to the ground in pain.

"That," Mischa groaned. "That's what I was talking about."

"Ow..." Marcus muttered.

Scorpina stood triumphant and laughed.

"Fools! You're pathetic! Lord Zedd will have no trouble in conquering this puny planet!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the moon, Zedd watched as Scorpina sent the six Rangers crashing to the ground with a single blow.

"HA!" the Zarakin warlord laughed. "I was right...what a fool you were, Zordon, choosing mere teenagers to do the job of highly-skilled warriors!" He turned to his wife. "Time to start Phase Two!"

Zedd and Rita crossed their staffs. "Make Scorpina grow!" they yelled in unison, causing bolts of lightning to erupt from the upper end of both weapons and streak down to Earth.

* * *

The Rangers got to their feet quickly as the lightning struck Scorpina and she started to grow larger. However, she didn't remain in her human form; she transformed into a deadly two-legged scorpion.

"Not good," Marcus quipped.

"Now what do we do?" Taylor asked no one in particular.

"We use the zords Zordon told us about!" J.W. replied. "Dinozord power!"

The second the Red Ranger called this out, the Dinozords began emerging from their various hiding places. The Tyrannosaurus from a deep fissure in the Earth. The Mastodon from a glacier. The Triceratops from the desert. The Saber-Toothed Tiger from the jungle. And finally, the Pterodactyl from a volcano.

Jeff rose his own hand to the sky. "I call on the power of Titanus!"

True to Zordon's word, Titanus emerged from its hiding place in the mountains and headed to heed its new master's call.

As soon as his zord arrived, J.W. leapt into its cockpit. "Log on!" he announced.

The other Rangers boarded their own zords in a similar manner.

"Marcus here...this is sweet!"

"This is Mischa, all systems go!"

"Kendra here, ready to rock!"

"Hey, nice stereo!" Taylor commented.

"Titanus online!" Jeff reported.

"Megazord power, on!" J.W. ordered.

"Kendra here...this is amazing; I seem to know how to drive this thing!" The Yellow Ranger exulted.

"Affirmative...I do, too! It's almost like second nature to me," Mischa chimed in.

The five Dinozords came together to form a massive tank.

"All right guys, let's go get her!" Jeff ordered, an affirmative response coming from the Megazord cockpit.

Scorpina didn't waste time at all and opened fire, hitting the Megazord with a powerful blast. J.W., Kendra, Mischa, Taylor, and Marcus groaned as the vehicle staggered under the onslaught.

"You and your weapons are no match for me!" Scorpina snarled, looking on the Rangers with the utmost contempt.

"Wanna bet?" Jeff muttered, and fired Titanus' guns full-blast, catching Scorpina - who was busy watching the Megazord - completely by surprise. The bipedal alien scorpion screamed in pain and crashed to the ground.

* * *

"What's she doing down there, taking in the scenery?" Zedd roared. "Finish them, you fool!" he yelled down at Earth, much like a football fan would yell instructions to his favorite team from high up in the bleachers.

* * *

"All right, guys...let's see what this baby can do!" J.W. encouraged the others.

With that said, the Megazord added its own powerful blast, scoring even more hits on Scorpina.

"Yeah...zap her again!" J.W. yelled.

This time the Megazord fired laser beams from all the Dinozords' eye sockets, sending Scorpina - who'd just managed to get to her feet - crashing to the ground again. Excited cheers resounded in the Megazord's cockpit.

"Right...let's squash this bug!" Jeff ordered, with the others in full agreement.

"Let's power it up...activating Megazord battle mode!" J.W. stated.

_"Megazord sequence has been initiated!"_ a robotic voice intoned, as the Megazord began changing shape. It rose onto two legs and the Pterodactyl Dinozord locked into place on its chest, causing the robotic voice to state, _"Megazord activated!"_

Scorpina attacked immediately, leaping through the air and slamming her blade across the Megazord's chest plate, rocking the cockpit and causing the five Rangers inside to react in surprise. The huge zord fought back, however, slamming a fist into Scorpina's face. The two traded blows for awhile, before a lucky hit to Scorpina's chest caused to to once again crash to the ground.

* * *

"GET UP, YOU WORTHLESS BUG!" Zedd yelled, upon seeing Scorpina go down yet again.

"Yeah, get up, Christina!" Rito joined in, causing Zedd to whirl on him in a fury.

"IT'S SCORPINA, YOU INCOMPETENT! CAN'T YOU GET AT LEAST ONE OF OUR NAMES RIGHT?"

Rito turned to him, apparently surprised by his outburst. "Whoa, Ed, you seem a bit touchy. Might be time to switch to decaf."

Zedd resisted the powerful urge to bang his head against something hard. He knew if his forehead had had skin, there'd be a vein throbbing in it right about now.

* * *

Meanwhile, Scorpina quickly got to her feet. Worried, Mischa turned to J.W.

"That blow didn't even phase her!"

"She's coming at us!" J.W. yelled, watching Scorpina prepare for yet another round of combat. She snaked out her tail, wrapping it around the Megazord and then sent a huge round of electricity through it, causing several explosions that rocked the zord and fairly unrattled its occupants.

"Forgot about me again, didn't you?" Jeff snarled, and Titanus let Scorpina have it again, thereby breaking her hold on the Megazord and sending her flying. She got to her feet with a look of pure fury and headed Titanus' way.

"Look out, Jeff!" Taylor yelled at seeing her boyfriend in danger.

"You fools are finished!" Scorpina snarled, moving in for the kill.

* * *

"Yes! She's finally going to do it!" Zedd crowed, and everyone crowded on the palace balcony to watch eagerly.

"Power Sword!" J.W. ordered, and a huge silver sword came down from the heavens, burying itself in the Earth. The Megazord walked over and picked it up.

"You think a sword's going to stop me?" Scorpina scoffed.

"No, but this will!" J.W. retorted, and all five Rangers in the Megazord raised their right fists and swung them down in a slicing motion.

The Megazord's eyes lit up, and it raised the Power Sword in the air, drawing energy in until the sword glowed white. It then copied the Rangers' motion, sending the energy in the sword arcing toward Scorpina.

"You're finished, scumball!" Jeff growled. "Titanus Mega-Blaster, lock on and fire!"

Titanus opened fire with everything it had, its blast impacting with Scorpina simultaneously with the energy bolt from the Megazord.

"NOOOOO!" Scorpina screamed as she crashed to the ground and exploded.

"All right!" Marcus exclaimed.

"We did it!" Mischa exulted.

"Nice work, guys," Jeff's voice filtered over from Titanus' cockpit.

* * *

On the moon, silence reigned for a few brief seconds, as those on the balcony absorbed what had just happened. Everyone but Rito turned to look at the fuming Lord Zedd, who was actually glowing red he was so pissed off. It was then that Rito decided to break the silence.

"Huh...didn't expect that," Rito stated, before turning to Zedd. "Just goes to show ya, Ed...you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself." The skeleton warrior shrugged and turned away from the balcony, totally unconcerned with the crushing defeat his side had just suffered.

Squatt and Baboo whimpered in fear of what Zedd would do, while Finster and Goldar stared after Rito briefly before turning and looking at each other as if to ask, 'Is he really that stupid?'.

Rita - wiping tears from her eyes due to the loss of her friend - raised her other hand to put it on her husband's shoulder in comfort, but Zedd - still glowing with anger - snapped a hand up to halt her movement. He then turned and stalked out of the throne room.

The group blinked in surprise at how quiet Zedd was being, but suddenly from another part of the palace there came a Zarakin battle cry, followed by several loud and resounding crashes accompanied by words that weren't exactly fit for children's - or Squatt and Baboo's - ears.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Command Center, the six Rangers were talking excitedly amongst themselves.

"CONGRATULATIONS ON A JOB WELL DONE," Zordon commended them. "NOW THAT YOU HAVE BECOME POWER RANGERS, YOU MUST FOLLOW THREE BASIC RULES OR LOSE THE PROTECTION OF THE POWER. FIRST, NEVER USE YOUR POWER FOR PERSONAL GAIN. SECOND, NEVER ESCALATE A BATTLE UNLESS ZEDD AND RITA FORCE YOU. AND FINALLY, KEEP YOUR IDENTITIES SECRET. NO ONE MAY KNOW YOU ARE A POWER RANGER."

"Wait a second," Marcus spoke up.

"YES, MARCUS? WHAT IS IT?" Zordon gave the Black Ranger permission to speak.

"I'm not sure we're all up to this," Marcus stated his doubts. "I mean, we were pretty lucky this time."

"LUCK HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT," Zordon replied. "THE SIX OF YOU HAVE COME TOGETHER TO FORM AS FINE A GROUP OF SUPERHEROES AS THERE HAS EVER BEEN."

"Really?" Taylor asked, pleased by the compliment.

"YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE TOGETHER," Zordon continued. "YOU NEED EACH OTHER NOW, AND THE WORLD NEEDS YOU."

"I'm in!" J.W. exulted, with Jeff agreeing right after him.

"Me, too!" Marcus replied.

"You can count on me," Kendra put in.

"Affirmative," Mischa replied.

Taylor didn't join in right away, and her silence was enough to cause her five companions to turn to her questioningly. She avoided looking at them for a few moments before turning to them with a grin.

"Gotcha! I'm in too!"

"Let's do it!" Jeff replied, placing his hand out.

The other five piled their hands on top before jumping into the air.

"POWER RANGERS!"

****

TBC

**

* * *

**

UP NEXT:

**There's a new guy in town, but when he uncovers something thought lost forever, can the Rangers convince him to join with them, or will they find themselves battling both Lord Zedd and one of their own?**

**READ & REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2: Rogue Ranger

**Thanks to the two people who were kind enough to review Chapter One! I was going to wait until I received five reviews to post the next chapter, but then I realized I might be waiting a LONG time! So I figured I'd be nice and post another chapter. I'd like at least five reviews before I post Chapter Three (which is already done, by the way :) ). Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:**** Remember back in Chapter One when I said 'Other differences will be explained as the story goes on'? Well, here's the first of these. Some of the lines in this chapter come from the episode **_**A Pressing Engagement**_** and a few others from the **_**Green With Evil**_** mini-series. In this chapter, the seventh Ranger will be introduced. Yes, it's the Green Ranger...did some of you honestly think I'd rewrite **_**Mighty Morphin Power Rangers**_** without bringing in the most kick-ass Ranger of them all?**

**Again, the only things I own are the names of the Rangers, the Dragonzord's finishing move, and a couple ideas that will be introduced later.**

**CHAPTER TWO - ROGUE RANGER**

Three days later, four of the Rangers congregated around the lockers in the main hall of Angel Grove High School. When the time for the first period bell to ring came and went, they started to wonder why teachers weren't prowling the halls, ordering students to get to class.

"Wonder why the bell didn't ring," Jeff mused.

"Who cares? More free time!" Marcus replied.

The four were then joined by J.W. and Kendra. "They didn't ring the bell because half the school hasn't even made it here yet," Kendra stated. "There's a major pileup on San Valenica Parkway, which is blocking a lot of buses and cars."

* * *

"Oh, come on...MOVE IT!" Caden Stark yelled out the window of his pickup truck, his voice joining quite a few other pissed-off drivers and the symphony of honking horns all around him.

He sighed and slammed his hand futilely against the steering wheel. His parents had left the country two days ago on an art tour of Europe, sending him to live with his aunt and uncle in Angel Grove, California. Not only were his parents not going to be back for six months, but they'd left him in the hands of the two people on Earth he despised most.

Life hadn't been made any easier by the fact that his cousin Ken still lived at home with his parents and was a fart right out of his mother's ass. Caden likened the relationship between his aunt and his cousin to that of Patricia and Dudley Dursley from the _Harry Potter_ universe. Ken used to think it was fun to torment Caden about random things every so often - he was just bright enough to realize constant teasing wouldn't be the best course of action - but all that had changed one night back when he was sixteen.

****FLASHBACK****

_Caden sat on the couch watching _Pretty Woman _on television. He and his parents were over at his aunt and uncle's home for his uncle's birthday party, and Caden - not wanting to deal with all the crap that went with such an event, especially since his grandmother had passed away only three months ago and he was still grieving deeply - sequestered himself in the den after putting in a cursory appearance at the birthday dinner._

_Ken walked into the room with a purposeful look on his face. Caden's martial arts instincts went on full alert. He also took pleasure in the fact that his potential adversary had no idea he was currently a third-degree__ black belt in karate. He kept his eyes on the screen but his senses were on Ken, waiting for the oaf to make his move._

_The first thing Ken apparently noticed was the movie playing on the television, for he walked over and stood in front of the screen, facing Caden with a stupid grin on his face that wouldn't have looked out of place on Michael Kelso from _"That 70's Show"_. Caden looked up at him when he didn't move._

_"You mind moving?" he asked, figuring on at least being polite initially._

_"You're only sixteen...this movie has stuff in it you don't need to be watching. You're too young to see it," Ken replied, the tone of his voice telling Caden he knew full-well he was being a jackass._

_Caden scoffed. "Please...the stuff in this movie is tamer than what's shown on prime-time programming nowadays." He paused, and then smirked. "It's definitely tamer than some of the movie clips I've downloaded. Now move," he ordered._

_Ken smirked mischievously. "What're you gonna do if I don't?"_

_Caden sighed. He hated stupidity. He slowly got to his feet and stood in front of his cousin, locking eyes with him and holding his gaze for several seconds, just long enough to lull Ken into a false sense of security._

_"See?" his cousin snorted in contempt. "I knew you weren't gonna do anyth -"_

_He never finished the sentence. Caden lashed out with an aikido punch to Ken's jaw that sent him crumbling to the floor like a sack of potatoes, out cold. Caden looked down at the unconscious idiot on the carpet and then glanced at the television. The movie was on commercial._

_"Screw this," he scoffed. "They cut parts of it out anyways. The TV's yours when you wake up, dickhead."_

_With that, he walked out of the room and met his parents in the front hall._

_"Caden, we were just about to come get you," his dad, Roger, greeted him._

_"Are we leaving already?" Caden asked in dismay, insincerity dripping from every word and causing his father to look at him askance for his sarcasm._

_"Where's Ken?" his Aunt Rachel demanded sharply._

_"Knocked out in front of the TV in the den," Caden replied, and his aunt - thinking Caden meant his cousin had fallen asleep - headed that way without so much as a goodbye to Caden and his parents._

_"Mom, Dad, now would be a good time to leave," Caden ushered his parents out the door and towards their car._

_"Caden, what's the rush - wait a second, what did you do to Ken?" his mother, Angela, turned to him as she opened the passenger door of the car._

_Before Caden could answer, a shriek came from inside the house, followed by his aunt screaming for his uncle._

_"HARVEY! HARVEY, HARVEY, HAAARRRR-VEEEEYYY!"_

_Caden turned to his parents._

_"Do you guys really wanna know right now, or would you rather hear about it on the ride home so's we don't get caught up in Hurricane Bullshit?"_

_Roger snorted back laughter, while Angela rolled her eyes and got in the car. Thanks to Roger's quick thinking, the family was pulling out of the driveway as Rachel burst out the front door screaming for Roger to stop. Caden's father conveniently pretended not to see his sister-in-law and headed off down the street._

****END FLASHBACK****

Caden was jarred from his reverie when he noticed an opening in the congestion and slammed down the gas pedal. He made it through with inches to spare and quickly arrived at Angel Grove High School, sliding into a parking space out of the way. He got his schedule and locker number from the front office, and then headed down the hall.

Finding his locker was no problem, and no one bothered him or even asked questions about who he was or where he was from. He stowed his backpack, pulled out a couple notebooks, stuffed a pen and some pencils in his pocket, and headed off. He wasn't three steps down the hall before he saw trouble. Two girls were standing by a locker, surrounded by seven guys who were obviously on the football team. The leader - who looked to have a single-digit IQ - was flirting with the girl dressed in yellow, and failing miserably. For her part, the girl appeared disgusted, while her companion - apparently a sophomore - looked somewhat frightened. Deciding to help out if need be, Caden edged closer to hear the conversation.

"Come on, babe," the idiot was saying, "How about some fun Saturday night?" His friends snickered and leered at the two girls.

"Dream on," the girl in yellow muttered, getting books out for her first class.

The guy wasn't amused. His smile hardened and he leaned in closer.

"I don't think you heard me, babe," he said conceitedly. "We're going out Saturday night, so meet me at the Youth Center about six."

"Leave me alone," the girl snarled, turning to the group of guys with a look of contempt.

When the guy reached for her arm, Caden decided to step in.

"Back off...she said no."

The group of guys turned to face him. Although they were all brimming with hostility and muscles, Caden wasn't afraid. His parents weren't even around to ground him, and him getting in trouble at school would only give his aunt - who was quite conscious of her position in the community and hated anything rocking or casting dark shadows on her perfect Disney World-ish life - a few more gray hairs.

The leader smirked at him. "You must be new here."

Caden said nothing, merely waited for the idiot to continue.

"I'm Mason Chalmers, captain of the football team," the guy said, as if that explained everything.

Caden rose an eyebrow. "And? What am I supposed to do, fall on my ass in abject worship?"

Mason glowered at him while the two girls smothered giggles. "It means I run this school. If I see something I want, I get it. And I don't like interlopers trying to make trouble."

"Well, that's nice...good for you," Caden quipped, and was surprised to hear more smothered giggles from the two girls.

"You know what?" Mason asked, "I think you need an education. This afternoon in the student parking lot, you're gonna get one. See you then, newbie."

He and his friends departed, laughing among themselves at what Mason had said.

Caden shook his head and watched the village idiot and his entourage walk down the hall before turning to the two girls.

"You two ok?" he asked. They nodded; the one in blue looked grateful and the one in yellow gazed at him, starstruck. The way she was looking at him made Caden somewhat uncomfortable, so he turned his attention to the girl in blue.

"Thanks for what you did," the one in blue replied. "But you'll probably want to leave school early today...you don't want to face them this afternoon."

Caden merely smiled secretively before nodding in farewell and turning away.

"Hey, I'm Kendra Price," the one in yellow - who'd apparently come out of her starstruck gaze - called after him. "This is my friend Mischa Fox. You're new around here, aren't you?"

Caden nodded. "Caden Stark...nice to meet you."

"Hope you know what you're getting into," Mischa informed Caden, but to her surprise the green-clad teen merely shrugged it off.

"I've got more important things to worry about than getting my ass kicked by a bunch of neanderthals. I'll see you around."

Mischa watched as Caden headed off, and then noticed the dreamy expression in Kendra's eyes.

"You appear to be enamored by him," she stated, her voice jarring Kendra out of her trance. The Yellow Ranger flushed slightly.

"So what if I am?" She asked indignantly before dropping the facade and smiling dreamily. "Wasn't he just...wow?"

Mischa rolled her eyes and shook her head. "He was a fellow student...nothing more."

"Maybe that's how you see _him_," Kendra grinned, "but I seem to recall seeing a similar expression when you look at my brother sometimes."

"Oh, please," Mischa scoffed, "like I even have time for romantic entanglements."

Kendra merely stared at her with an expression that clearly said, _'Don't bother denying it; you know it's true'_.

Mischa finally gave in and sighed. "Anyway, it doesn't matter...he's so far out of my league, it's unreal."

Kendra didn't say a word. She happened to know J.W. didn't consider himself that much of a chick magnet, and she also thought Mischa would be good for her brother. Thankfully, Mischa didn't catch on to her friend's sudden silence as they headed down the hall to first period.

* * *

By the end of the day, it seemed as though the entire school was looking forward to the fight between Mason and the new guy. Predictably, when Caden walked outside to his truck, there was a large crowd of students waiting to see the fireworks, so he simply stowed his backpack in the cab and then leaned against the hood, waiting for Peabrain and Friends to make their appearance.

Kendra and Mischa found a good spot and sat down to wait for the rest of the group. Both girls were secretly hoping Lord Zedd wouldn't choose to make an appearance in the next two hours, for they - Kendra especially - actually wanted to see what was going to happen. The girls' scan of the parking lot for Caden's opponents was broken by the arrival of the other four Rangers.

"Is the new guy nervous?" J.W. asked, looking over at Caden.

"He doesn't appear to be," Mischa absently responded, having by now pulled out a book.

"He better have a game plan," Marcus stated, "otherwise Chalmers and his goons are gonna squash him like a bug."

It was then that Mason and his six-man crew stepped outside, and Caden pushed himself off the hood of his truck, his eyes fixed solely on the seven guys in front of him.

"Well, well, well, newbie was actually stupid enough to show up," Mason taunted, and his six friends laughed obnoxiously at the comment.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" Caden replied, "Unlike the seven of you, some of us actually have lives and higher aspirations than Head Cashier at McDonald's."

Mason pointed at two of his goons. "Get him!"

To the Ranger's surprise, Caden dropped into a martial arts defensive stance and made a 'bring it on' motion with his right hand. The two football players started toward their intended victim, grinning maliciously. When the first one got close enough, he swung at Caden, who dodged the closed fist and struck back with an punch to the throat, causing Guy Number One to collapse to his knees, gasping for air. Seconds later, he was out cold from a roundhouse kick to his head.

"Did you see that?" Marcus exclaimed as he and the others watched in surprise.

Guy Number Two also swung wildly, and Caden dodged his offensive as well, merely allowing his opponent's momentum to carry him forward slightly, and then he reached up, grabbed the guy's right arm and pressed upward hard and fast on the juncture of the arm and shoulder with the heel of his right hand. Those close enough cringed when they heard the sound of cartilage snapping as the scapula was ripped from the clavicle. Guy Number Two emitted a high-pitched shriek of agony before Caden released him and pushed him away before jumping onto the hood of his truck. Needless to say, Guy Number Two didn't come back into the fight.

Mason motioned for two more of his friends to attack Caden, and the fight continued. Guy Number Three didn't even have a chance; as soon as he got close enough, Caden lashed out with his left foot, smashing the guy's nose. Blood spewed everywhere and the guy screamed in pain, forgetting all about his boss's orders to pummel the new kid. After laying Guy Number Four out with a roundhouse kick to the back of the head, Caden leapt down from the hood, using Guy Number Three as a landing pad, tackling him heavily and causing Guy Number Three's head to bounce hard off the pavement, leaving him lying there, stunned.

No sooner had Caden gotten to his feet than Guy Number Five and Guy Number Six were approaching him. Guy Number Five took a snap-kick to the chin, snapping his head back and sending him sprawling, but Guy Number Six managed to grab Caden from behind. This proved to be a seconds-only deterrent, for Caden shoved first his left, then his right elbows into the guy's stomach, followed by a mule-kick to the crotch. Guy Number Six wheezed and squeaked in pain before collapsing to his knees and allowing Caden to escape. Caden quickly turned and laid him out cold with a roundhouse kick to his head.

The end of Guy Number Six had caused several people to laugh, for Caden recited a line from the children's book _The Saggy Baggy Elephant_ as he fought his opponent, counting the moves as he made them.

"One, two, three, KICK!"

After this, Mason was the only one left. The football captain had been watching the fight, the expression on his face growing darker with Caden's progressive victories. Now that he was the only one left, he resolved to make Caden pay. With a noise like a water buffalo trying to give birth, he swung wildly at Caden, who easily side-stepped the blow and delivered a roundhouse kick.

Time seemed to go in slow motion as the side of Caden's foot slammed full-force into Mason's jaw, and several sets of eyes widened upon hearing the sickening _crunch_ of bone snapping. Mason dropped to the ground, howling incoherently in pain.

"What's going on here, Mr. Stark?" Mr. Caplan strode outside and gaped at the seven idiots scattered about: five out cold, one holding a limp right arm and screaming his head off, and Mason lying on the ground, blubbering senselessly.

"Nothing now," Caden replied, opening the driver's door to his truck and getting in. "See you tomorrow, sir," he ended the conversation by slamming the door, starting up the truck, and driving away.

* * *

Meanwhile, up on the Moon, someone else was watching Caden's seven-on-one battle.

"Incredible!" Lord Zedd enthused. "He'll make a fantastic Green Ranger! What better way to destroy those pesky Power Rangers than with one of their own?"

"A perfect idea, Zeddy!" Rita replied, while Squatt, Baboo, and Finster also voiced their support.

"As soon as the Dragon Coin is located, we shall fuse the Dark Energy to it and then the Green Ranger shall become one of us!" Goldar promised.

"How goes the search?" Zedd inquired.

"We shall find it anytime now, Master," Goldar assured his Emperor.

"I'll believe it when I see it!" Zedd snapped back, turning his gaze toward Earth.

His vision brought him a view of Rito sitting on a mountainside in the middle of a rock quarry, gazing out at nothing.

_"Boy, it sure is pretty out here...don't get to see a lot of views like this on the moon!" _Rito was muttering to himself.

Zedd nearly lost it.

"WHAT IS THAT MARSHMALLOW-BRAIN DOING?" he roared. "GET BACK TO WORK, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF FLUFF!" he ordered Rito telepathically.

On Earth, he saw Rito resume work reluctantly. _"All right, Ed, all right! Can't a guy enjoy the simpler things in life for five measly minutes? Sheesh..."_ Rito grumbled as he got to his feet.

Back on the Moon, Zedd growled in anger as he broke the viewlink and stomped back to his throne.

"What is it, Zeddy? How goes the search?" Rita demanded, causing her husband to whirl on her in a fury.

"It goes nowhere! I might as well have a trained monkey conducting the search, for all the good your brother's doing! Remind me again why we keep him around?"

"Because he's family, that's why, Zeddy!" Rita soothed him. Zedd grumbled something under his breath and resumed the viewlink, only to find Rito holding up a rock.

_"Now _that's _a neat-looking rock!"_ the skeleton warrior opined, before looking up at the sky and pointing. _"Oh, hey...that cloud looks like a duck!"_

"OF ALL THE USELESS...!" Zedd trailed off, too angry to even speak. "GET BACK TO WORK, RITO...NOW!" he screamed once he found his voice.

_"Geez, Ed...didn't anyone ever tell you patience was a virtue?"_ Rito grumbled as he set his rock down and cast a spell on it, making a dopey-looking smiley face appear on it. _"Now, you sit there and keep me company while I look for this coin Ed wants, okey-dokey?"_ The skeleton warrior nodded in satisfaction. _"Hey, I almost forgot you need a name...how about I call you Waldo? Yeah, that's a good name for ya! Hey, Waldo, I'm Rito...pleased to make your acquaintance!"_ He then leaned in conspiratorially. _"Hey, you haven't seen a coin lying around here, by any chance, have ya?"_ He then proceeded to listen as though he were expecting the rock to actually answer him.

"GREAT BALLS OF JUPITER...HE'S CONVERSING WITH A ROCK!" Zedd screamed.

"Squatt talks to inanimate objects all the time," Baboo volunteered his unwanted opinion.

"Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with that!" Squatt seconded.

Finster moaned in despair, Goldar shook his head, and Rita began patting Zedd on the back in a soothing manner as the Emperor of Evil squeezed his 'Z' staff so hard the metal started groaning in protest.

* * *

Caden didn't bother going straight home; he drove into the mountains around Angel Grove and decided to cool off with a workout. He'd heard people in school mention the Youth Center, but right now solitude was what he needed. He pulled off to the side of the road, changed into his workout clothes, and headed into a clearing, where commenced an advanced _kata_.

* * *

Rito had been scanning and digging for some time now - in between long conversations with his new friend Waldo - and was starting to think he was onto something when he inadvertently triggered a rockslide. At the first sign of rumbling, he looked up to see what looked like the entire hillside heading straight towards him at ever-increasing speed.

"Um, that's not good!" the skeleton warrior exclaimed. "C'mon Waldo...we're outta here!" he grabbed his rock friend and teleported out of range.

The rockslide crashed over their former position and over the nearest cliff, picking up more debris as it went...and taking the almost-unearthed Dragon Coin and morpher along with it.

* * *

Caden ran for his life as the rockslide crashed down around him. There'd been no warning whatsoever, but that was expected in the case of most rockslides. He was almost clear when something slammed into his head.

"OW, dammit! What the hell!" the teen cursed, but then paused, for what had hit him hadn't felt like a rock. He glanced down to see what looked like an octagonal silver belt buckle sticking out of the ground. He bent down and picked it up to find the center contained a gold coin with what looked to be the imprint of a carnivorous dinosaur footprint on it. But it was the word 'POWER RANGERS' emblazoned in white on a red background along the rim of the coin inset which really got his attention, and it was then he realized just what exactly he was holding.

"Holy shit..." he trailed off, stunned.

Suddenly, the morpher came alive in his hands. Miniature bolts of green lightning lanced out and fused into his skin, and suddenly his mind filled with words such as 'Dragonzord' and 'Dragon Dagger' and small catchy tunes. It was only momentary, but when it vanished, Caden knew what had happened. Whether he liked it or not, he was now a Power Ranger.

* * *

"Well, did you find it?" Zedd demanded as Rito strolled into the throne room with Waldo under his arm.

"See, here's the thing, Ed," Rito began. "Waldo and I were digging along, just minding our own business, when all of a sudden a rockslide happened, and it was heading right towards us! I didn't want either Waldo or me to get hurt, and I didn't think you'd want that, either, so I got us outta there right then. We didn't find it yet, but don't worry...we'll go back as soon as everything calms down."

The terrifying roar of anger that emnated from the throne made Rito quickly amend, "Or maybe we'll just head back down right now." With that, the intelligence-challenged skeleton vanished.

* * *

Caden was still holding his new morpher when Rito suddenly appeared nearby. The monster's sudden appearance made the teen drop into a defensive stance, and Rito spotted the morpher right away.

"Hey, thanks for finding that, buddy...I've been looking all over for that! See, there was this really wild party here about a thousand years ago - we got really crazy, lemme tell ya! - and I lost that thing. My Dad gave it to me, and I'd really like it back!"

Caden wasn't exactly a fool; he knew just by the look of the thing in front of him that it had to be a bad guy. Not exactly a smart one, by any means, but a bad guy nonetheless.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, "You know the old saying: 'Finders keepers, losers weepers'."

"Um..." Rito trailed off, attempting to come up with an adequate comeback. "Yo mama!" he finally shot back.

"Is that right?" Caden asked, while at the same time thinking, _My God, he really IS that stupid!_

The teen grinned at Rito before holding the morpher out in front of him. Rito, genius that he was, thought Caden was offering it to him without a fight.

"Hey, that's really big of ya...thanks, pal!" he started towards Caden, but stopped dead in his tracks at Caden's next actions.

"It's morphin' time! Dragonzord!"

"Uh-oh..." Rito muttered as the teen in front of him became the Green Ranger. His pause was momentary, however, and he charged into battle. However, Caden's powers made him more than a match, and Rito quickly found himself taking a defensive stance.

"Um, Ed...need a little help down here!" he called up to the moon.

* * *

On the moon, Zedd - figuratively - rolled his eyes. Of course Rito would call for help in such a simple matter. Rito would call for help in finding his way out of a paper bag. He sighed and activated a viewlink, which promptly showed Rito getting his ass handed to him by the Green Ranger.

"NOOOO!" Zedd howled, causing Rita and Goldar to hurry over.

"What is it, Zeddy? What's wrong?" Rita demanded.

"Some _teenager_ -" Zedd spat out the word as though it were the foulest curse word in the known universe "- has already found and bonded with the Dragon Coin! There's no way we can fuse the Dark Energy with it now!"

"I apologize, My Emperor," Goldar began, "if I had taken on the assignment myself, I would not have failed you!"

"Stop your sniveling, you nincompoop!" Zedd snarled. "You're the one who drove us here in the first place!"

Goldar opened his mouth and was about to bring up the fact he'd only been following Zedd's directions when driving Serpentera, but upon seeing the 'I-wouldn't-bring-that-up-right-now-if-I-were-you' look on Finster's face, he wisely kept silent.

"Rito! Get back up here, you spineless space blob!" Zedd ordered before whirling on Finster. "Finster! I need a powerful monster that will destroy all seven of those pesky Power Brats!"

"I have just the monster to do the job, my lord," Finster replied, just as Rito suddenly teleported in carrying Waldo and stumbled forward, knocking into Squatt and Baboo and sending all three of them to the floor in a heap. Zedd watched them, silently seething, their simpleton antics making him want to bang his head against something hard.

"Oops...sorry about that!" Rito apologized as he got to his feet and offered a hand to the other two, helping them up before turning to Zedd.

"Man, Ed...you shoulda seen that guy! He was a toughie!" He paused for a moment and then asked, "So, what's the plan?"

Zedd slammed his fist down on the arm of his throne. "The plan is to send down a monster to destroy those annoying Rangers! Now, thanks to your efforts, there are _seven_ Rangers instead of six! Kudos to you, Rito...you've just made a bad situation at least ten times worse!"

The skeleton warrior shrugged. "No need for the compliments, Ed...I just do what I can to help."

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Zedd roared, and Rito - sensing now was not the best time to argue - scurried off with Waldo under his arm. The others heard his one-sided conversation as he walked off down the hallway.

"Come on, Waldo...lemme show ya my room! It's great...got a nice view of Earth, and maybe tomorrow we'll go out and find a nice moon rock to keep you company while I'm off doin' my thing!"

* * *

When Rito suddenly vanished, Caden started in surprise, but soon the jubilation that came with knowing he'd won his first fight set in. However, he knew it wasn't over by a long shot, and was wary of his surroundings as he demorphed and headed for his truck.

By the time he got home, he noticed his aunt had apparently just pulled in as well, for the second he was out of his car, she was barking orders.

"There are groceries in the back of my car, Caden...unload them!" she snapped.

Caden bit back a sarcastic retort and remembered the morpher in his back pocket, contenting himself with thoughts about how 'equal' a fight would be between his aunt and the Green Ranger. He almost laughed a couple of times, but forced himself to remain quiet. He grabbed several bags and headed for the front door of the house, and heard his aunt's cell phone ring as he headed up the front walk.

As he neared the door, Ken stepped out of the house and stood in front of the door with his arms crossed and a dopey, Kelso-like grin on his face.

"You mind moving?" Caden asked.

Ken merely grinned like an idiot. "What's the password?"

Caden sighed resignedly. _Here we go again_, he thought as he set down the bags and straightened back up to look his cousin in the eye for a moment. Ken smirked, thinking Caden was going to play his little game. All thoughts of that - and pretty much everything else - ended when Caden struck out with aikido punch to the side of Ken's head, causing him to stagger back and strike his head on one of the front porch columns, thereby sending him to the ground in a heap.

"There's your password, asshole," Caden snarled before picking up the groceries and walking into the house. He'd just set the groceries down in the kitchen when he heard his aunt shriek from the front hall.

"CAAAADENNNN!"

Caden sighed and called back, "I'm in the kitchen, Aunt Rachel!"

His uncle Harvey - whipped lapdog that he was - came running at his wife's shriek.

"What's wrong?"

Rachel whirled on him in a fury. "Caden just knocked Ken out again on the front porch simply because Ken was in his way, and to top it all off, I just got a call from the principal of Caden's school, who informed me Caden was in a fight this afternoon with seven football players."

Harvey turned to Caden and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Seven-on-one? Seven _football_ players? You don't have a scratch on you."

Caden nodded. "That's right."

"Nice job," Harvey complimented, and Caden nodded in return, to which his aunt snapped,

"'Nice job'? 'Nice job'? Harvey, five of those poor boys have severe concussions, a sixth had his arm torn out of its socket, and the seventh - who was captain of the varsity football team, by the way - is in the hospital with a BROKEN JAW! The school's football season is finished, and the only reason the parents aren't filing assault charges is because there are too many witnesses saying the football players struck first!"

She turned to Caden with a frigid glare. "Go to your room! I don't want to see you until tomorrow morning!"

Caden rolled his eyes and headed upstairs via the back stairway. Once inside his room, he started gathering up his things, which wasn't a complicated task, seeing as how he'd never really bothered to unpack. Once packed, he sat down on the bed to think of a way to get his suitcases down to his truck without his aunt noticing. He was holding his morpher in his hands when an idea suddenly came to him.

_I wonder if this thing has teleportation...it's got a lot of other superhero stuff; why not that too?_

He got to his feet and grabbed his luggage in one hand before closing his eyes and pressing on the Dragon Coin with the other. In a nanosecond he was gone in a column of green light, appearing beside his truck an instant later.

"Kick-ass!" he enthused, tossing his suitcases in the bed before getting in the cab and starting the engine. He knew his aunt would hear the noise, but he didn't care; he knew where he was going.

* * *

Back on the moon, Zedd was growing increasingly impatient.

"FINSTER! Where is my monster?" he demanded.

"He's being made now, my lord," Finster replied, switching on his Monster-Matic. "I'll have him for you in no time."

Within seconds the monster was ready, and Zedd blasted him down to Earth.

* * *

The Rangers were relaxing in the Youth Center when Jeff's communicator - one of Mischa's latest inventions that allowed Zordon to contact them when needed and also functioned as a teleportation device - beeped. The White Ranger immediately motioned the others over, and they headed into the Youth Center lobby, away from anyone else.

"Yes, Zordon?" Jeff pressed the 'talk' button.

_"RANGERS, PLEASE TELEPORT TO THE COMMAND CENTER IMMEDIATELY,"_ Zordon replied.

Jeff looked to Marcus, who'd been assigned to make sure the coast was clear for them to teleport without anyone seeing. The Black Ranger nodded that all was clear, and the six Rangers teleported out in columns of light in their signature color.

Upon arrival, all six looked to Zordon.

"What is it?" J.W. asked.

"POWER RANGERS, OBSERVE THE VIEWING GLOBE," Zordon commanded.

When the Rangers turned to look, they saw a large, gray-colored monster with angel-like wings and an Egyptian headdress.

"Looks like a sphinx," Marcus commented.

"PRECISELY, MARCUS," Zordon confirmed. "BEHOLD, ZEDD'S LATEST CREATION: THE KING SPHINX. HE IS A POWERFUL MONSTER, AND BEWARE OF HIS WINGS...THEY CAN CREATE WINDS STRONG ENOUGH TO SEPARATE YOU FROM EACH OTHER BY GREAT DISTANCES."

"Let's send this Egyptian eccentric back where he belongs," Jeff stated. "It's morphin' time!"

"Titanus!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

The Rangers materialized at Angel Grove Community College's amphitheater, where the monster and an army of Putties were waiting, along with Squatt and Baboo in the bleachers as spectators.

"Ah, Rangers...come to face your destruction, I see!" King Sphinx greeted them with an evil laugh.

"Wrong, Sphinx!" Jeff stated. "You're the one facing destruction, not us!"

"So sure of that, are you?" the monster taunted. "Well, in that case, here...how about a nice breeze?"

He started flapping his big wings, and almost immediately the Rangers were hard-pressed to stay on their feet.

"We can't take much more of this!" Mischa gasped as she struggled to remain upright.

"This guy's too strong!" Kendra yelled.

* * *

Caden pulled up in front of his own house, which had been shut up for the six months his parents were away. Since the Starks had paid their bills seven months in advance, there was no need to shut off the power, and Caden soon had everything back up and running. He was just about to sit down and start on homework when his mind filled with visions of the other Rangers in trouble.

"Guess it's as good a time as any to introduce myself," he muttered. "Besides, they look like they could use the help anyway."

He got to his feet and took out his morpher.

"It's morphin' time! Dragonzord!"

* * *

The Rangers were barely hanging on when salvation happened.

"Look, Rangers, even you're blown away by my amazing wings!" King Sphinx laughed, but his humor was cut short by a blast to the back.

"Save it, Sphinx!" Caden snarled.

The other Rangers gaped at the sight of a seventh Ranger.

"Who's _that_?" Marcus asked, getting 'I don't know's or shrugs in response.

"Whoever he is, I'm glad he's here," J.W. replied, the others agreeing with him.

"Huh? Where'd _you_ come from?" King Sphinx snarled as he recovered from the considerable blow.

"Doesn't matter where I came from...what matters is you're finished! Hi-yah!" the Green Ranger dropped into a martial arts stance, ready for battle.

"Oh well, I'll blow you away like your friends!" King Sphinx laughed and made to flap his wings.

The other Rangers watched as the Green Ranger grabbed an ornamental dagger from a black holster on his belt, raised it to the face plate on his helmet, and played a six-note tune, causing the gold diamond shape in the middle of his shield to glow green. King Sphinx flapped his wings, thereby causing a veritable windstorm, but the Green Ranger stayed right where he was. When King Sphinx eventually realized he wasn't having any success, he stopped moving his wings.

"You done yet?" the Green Ranger asked, as though bored with the whole ordeal.

"Not by a long shot!" the monster shot back.

"Too bad! Hi-yah!" the Green Ranger touched the blade of his dagger to the diamond shape on his shield, causing the blade to glow green. He then whipped the dagger in a pointing motion, flinging the collected energy at the monster and catching his target full-on in the chest.

"Ahhhh! You'll pay for that, Green Ranger!" King Sphinx snarled.

"Somehow, I don't think so," the Green Ranger replied as the others gathered around him.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, but thanks," Jeff greeted.

"Anytime," Caden repled, nodding in return. "Now let's finish this fight!"

* * *

"Enough of this cameraderie!" Zedd snarled, raising his 'Z' staff to cross with Rita's. "Grow, King Sphinx, grow!" they yelled, lightning snaking out of the ends of their staffs and streaking down to Earth.

The Rangers watched as King Sphinx grew to enormous size.

"Not good," Marcus quipped.

"Based on how strong the wind from his wings was at normal size," Mischa stated, "I estimate a wind blast from him at these dimensions will be fatal, even with our powers."

"So let's do something about it," J.W. replied, raising his right hand to the sky. "We need Dinozord power, now!"

Jeff also raised his hand to the sky. "I call on the power of Titanus!"

Caden raised his ornamental dagger and blew a different six-note tune. The waters of Angel Grove Harbor grew turbulent as the Dragonzord emerged and headed inland.

When the zords arrived, all seven Rangers leapt into their respective cockpits.

"Log on!" Jeff ordered.

"Let's do it!" J.W. enthused.

"Marcus here...let's rock and roll!"

"Mischa here...all systems go!"

"Kendra here...set and ready!"

"Let's jinx this sphinx!" Taylor replied.

"Dragonzord's got you covered!" Caden informed.

_"RANGERS,"_ Zordon's voice echoed through the Dinozords' cockpits. _"USE YOUR POWER COINS TO FORM THE POWER CRYSTALS. THEY CAN BE USED TO GIVE YOU MORE POWER AGAINST THIS MONSTER."_

"Right, guys...form your Power Crystals!" J.W. ordered.

The five Rangers held their Power Coins in their left hands and extended their right hands outward from the coins, causing crystals to form in their respective colors.

"All right, Rangers...power up!" J.W. ordered, inserting his crystal into his Dinozord's power supply.

"2...1...power up!" Kendra, Mischa, Taylor, and Marcus responded, doing the same in the cockpits of their own zords.

"Time for a little Megazord power!" J.W. enthused.

The zords came together to form the Megazord tank.

"Let's show 'em what we're made of!" J.W turned to the other Rangers for encouragement.

"Try this on for size!" King Sphinx snarled, firing a burst out of the eyes of his snake staff. The blast hit the Megazord dead-on, rocking the massive vehicle.

"Power up the cannons!" J.W. ordered, and the Megazord returned fire seconds later, followed by Titanus' cannons. Meanwhile, the Dragonzord got into the fight, the lights on its chestplate flashing seconds before it fired missles out of all ten of its fingers.

King Sphinx reeled under the blows that rained down.

"Crystal power!" J.W. ordered, and laser beams shot out of the Dinozords' eyes.

"My turn!" King Sphinx snarled, swinging his snake staff in a slashing motion down onto the Megazord. The five Rangers in the cockpit reeled under the punishing blow.

"Not so fast, Sphinxie!" Caden growled, swinging the Dragonzord around, the tip of zord's massive tail rotating like a drill bit and slamming full-force into King Sphinx's back.

"Ahh! You'll pay for that, Green Ranger!" the monster snarled, whirling and sending a fiery blast from his snake staff at the Dragonzord, causing it to crash to the ground.

"Crap...this guy's tough!" Caden muttered as his zord got back on its feet again.

* * *

"YES!" Zedd crowed. "I think King Sphinx is going to do it! Destroy those Power Brats!" he ordered the monster.

* * *

"Let's shift into Battle Mode and finish this dude!" J.W. stated.

"Right!" Mischa and Kendra replied, turning to their controls.

"Morphin!" Marcus and Taylor seconded.

"Power up the transformation sequence!" J.W. ordered.

_"Megazord sequence has been initiated!"_ the computer announced as the transformation commenced. The Megazord rose onto two legs and the final steps quickly followed.

_"Megazord activated!"_

"Megazord armed and ready!" J.W. confirmed.

"Uh-oh!" King Sphinx backpedaled, starting to realize he might have bitten off more than he could chew.

"You guys ready?" Jeff asked. Upon receiving confirmation from the Megazord, he replied, "Let's nail 'em!"

With a cry, King Sphinx charged.

"Keep it steady and watch out!" Jeff ordered.

King Sphinx's charge ended seconds later when the Dragonzord whipped around and slammed its tail straight into the monster's chest, tossing him back like a major-league baseball player knocking one right out of the ballpark.

"Home run!" Caden enthused.

"Nice work!" Jeff complimented.

KIng Sphinx rolled to his feet and leapt in the air, surprising the Megazord by landing right in front of it and slashing its chest with his snake staff and sending it crashing to the ground. He then turned to Titanus and began flapping his wings, sending the powerful zord bouncing away like a gigantic beach ball.

Caden watched from the Dragonzord's cockpit as the other zords were incapacitated. King Sphinx, having finished with Titanus turned to the Dragonzord.

"You're next, Green Ranger!"

"And you're through, Sphinx!" Caden snarled. "Dragonzord Jade Fire!"

The Dragonzord's mouth opened and a sphere of light shot out, propelled by a stream of green plasma. The burst hit King Sphinx full in the chest, and the monster screamed in dismay as he crashed to the ground and exploded.

"He got him!" Marcus exclaimed.

"Nice work, Green Ranger!" Jeff informed Caden.

"Until next time, my friends," Caden replied. "You haven't seen the last of the Green Ranger!"

The Dragonzord vanished in a column of green light, much to the other Rangers' surprise.

* * *

"NOOOO! I can't believe they beat that monster!" Zedd cried, slamming his fist down on the balcony of his palace.

Squatt, Baboo, and Finster cowered in fear in the corner, while Rita glowered down at the planet below.

"They've escaped today, Master, but they haven't seen the last of us!" Goldar vowed.

"Oh, stuff it, Brown-Nose!" Zedd snarled, to which Goldar bowed in response.

As this was going on, Rito strolled through on his way from the kitchen. As he passed the balcony, he glanced at the crowd gathered there.

"What happened? Did they win again? Oh well, don't you worry, Ed...we'll get 'em next time!" he encouraged, causing Zedd to whirl on his brother-in-law in a fury, glowing red he was so angry.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, IT'S _ZEDD_, YOU SIMPLE-MINDED BUFFOON..._ZEDD_!" the Emperor of Evil made to raise his staff to blast home the point, but Rita grabbed her husband's arm to stop him while Rito - apparently sensing his presence was no longer wanted - quickly made himself scarce.

* * *

Back at the Command Center, the six Rangers reported to Zordon about their new ally.

"We were almost finished, then a Green Ranger shows up and stands up to that sphinx monster like it was nothing," Jeff reported.

"Who was that guy? Is there any way of finding out his identity?" Taylor wanted to know.

"WE HAVE NO WAY OF TELLING WHO THE GREEN RANGER IS AT THIS TIME," Zordon replied. "HOWEVER, I AM PLEASED TO SEE WE NOW HAVE AN EXTREMELY VALUABLE ALLY IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST ZEDD AND RITA. AS YOU HAVE SEEN TODAY, THE GREEN RANGER IS A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT. THE DRAGON COIN'S POWER IS EQUAL TO THAT OF THE WHITE RANGER'S, AND THE DRAGONZORD'S STRENGTH IS EQUAL TO THAT OF THE MEGAZORD AND TITANUS."

"But he vanished before we could even ask him to join us," Kendra pointed out. "How will we know if he'll show up again?"

"ONLY TIME WILL TELL, RANGERS," Zordon stated. "EVERY BATTLE WITH LORD ZEDD'S FORCES IS TESTING YOU GREATER AND GREATER. NOW THAT ZEDD KNOWS THERE IS A SEVENTH RANGER, HE WILL TRY EVEN HARDER TO DEFEAT YOU."

"So when it comes down to asking the Green Ranger to join up with us..." Taylor started.

"We don't have a choice," Jeff finished.

The Command Center grew quiet then, as the Rangers realized the road to the final battle with Lord Zedd had more than likely begun.

**

* * *

**

UP NEXT:

**When Angel Grove holds its annual 'Day In the Park' celebration, the Rangers are invited as Guests of Honor. But Lord Zedd has his own intentions, and ressurects Cyclopsis, Goldar's war zord, to give the Rangers a special welcome of his own. Meanwhile, Zedd begins his search for another coin...will he finally create his own evil Ranger? And will the Rangers manage to convince the Green Ranger to join up with them, or will Caden continue to fight the forces of evil on his own?**

**READ & REVIEW!**


	3. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Just a quick note to let those who read know I have made a video advertising this fic. Just go on YouTube and search for my username (it's the same as on here, 'ijnfleetadmiral') and review it once you've watched it. I've only got two videos up right now, so it's easy to find! Enjoy!**

**Also: I'll update if I receive five reviews for Chapter 2; the next two chapters are already done, just so you know. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**** Here's more changes to our story. We'll introduce another Ranger in this chapter, and it will kind of even things out as far as pairings go. The majority of the dialogue in this chapter is taken from the Season One episode **_**Doomsday Part I**_**.**

**Again, the only things I own are the names of the Rangers and a couple ideas that will be introduced later.**

**

* * *

**

CHAPTER THREE - ZORD VS. ZORD: PART ONE - A FRIEND IN NEED

It was a Friday, and that afternoon the city of Angel Grove was holding its annual 'Day In the Park' celebration. The six Rangers walked down the hall of Angel Grove High School, listening as Taylor read an article from the morning newspaper aloud.

"_And because of their contribution to justice, and their unending efforts to protect the entire planet, Angel Grove city officials have declared today 'Power Ranger Day'_." Taylor read excitedly.

The six teens passed Caden in the hall and Kendra smiled and waved. As usual, Caden nodded in reply, surprising Kendra with a small smile.

"Hey, man...how's it going?" J.W. greeted.

"No complaints...anything good in the paper?" Caden asked, noticing what Taylor was holding.

"We're just reading about the Power Rangers," Kendra replied.

"Oh? What's it say?" Caden inquired, his interest piqued.

"_Mayor Carrington hopes that the mysterious superheroes will make a public appearance in Angel Grove Park, where countless fans will be gathered to celebrate them_." Taylor paused before continuing. "_The invitation goes out to all seven Rangers, including the newly-arrived Green Ranger, who helped the Rangers defeat the most recent monster attack."_

She closed the newspaper and smiled at the others. "I have a feeling the Power Rangers will show up."

"Of course they will," Caden replied. "They don't seem like the type to disappoint their fans."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they made an appearance," J.W. put in as the group headed down the hall to first period.

* * *

"Maybe we should attend this little party, too!" Lord Zedd mused as he spied on the Rangers.

"A party? Oh, boy! I hope there's Swedish meatballs!" Rito volunteered his unwanted opinion.

"Mmm...I love those!" Baboo enthused.

"Me, too! Ooh, and cake...don't forget cake!" Squatt put in as Baboo and Rito agreed.

"Quiet, you bubbleheads...we're not going for a social visit! We're going to destroy the Power Rangers!" Goldar snarled.

"Correct, Goldar!" Zedd snarled. "And to finish them off, I shall use all my powers to reactivate your war zord, Cyclopsis!"

With that, Zedd raised his staff and blasted a large bolt of white lightning towards the earth's core.

"I shall not fail you, my Emperor!" Goldar swore. "I will pilot Cyclopsis and send the Power Rangers to their doom!"

* * *

Caden sighed as he sat through Mr. Elmond's Geology class seventh period. Not only was he bored out of his mind, but he was still undecided as to whether or not he wanted to make an appearance at the park as the Green Ranger.

"And now I'm going to be pairing you up for your next projects," Mr. Elmond announced, causing several groans of protest around the room. Caden's feeling mirrored theirs, but he kept silent nonetheless.

"Ms. Winford," Mr. Elmond indicated the captain of the girl's varsity basketball team, "you'll be paired with Mr. Stark."

Although there had been several giggles at various pairings, complete silence greeted the announcement of Caden's name. Mason Chalmers was still in the hospital sipping his meals through a straw, and nobody else wanted to join him. The Green Ranger found it particularly humorous that most people gave him a wide berth now; the only people who seemed to want to include him had been Jeff Anders and his group of five friends. Caden appreciated the gesture, but even so kept to himself most of the time.

Once Mr. Elmond had finished assigning partners, Jenna got up and headed over to Caden's lab table. She sat down and smiled at him.

"Hey...guess we're going on a rock hunt, huh?"

Caden nodded. "If you'd care to start this afternoon, we could...the thing in the park's not until about four."

Jenna nodded. "Sounds good...where do you want to go look?"

"How about the old quarry?" Caden asked. "I go there to work out sometimes, so I know my way around pretty well."

"Ok," Jenna replied. "I'll meet you by your truck after school."

* * *

Jeff, Marcus, and J.W. walked through the park later that afternoon.

"The girls are supposed to meet us right around here," J.W. stated, glancing around.

"Look at this...all these people are here to see the Power Rangers," Marcus enthused.

"I know, man...pretty impressive, huh?" Jeff commented.

At that moment, they were joined by Taylor, Mischa, and Kendra.

"I cannot believe how many people are here!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Attendance here is most impressive," Mischa agreed.

"Come on...let's see who else is here!" Kendra put in, encouraging the others to follow her.

* * *

"Just look at those fools!" Zedd derided.

"You want a big crowd?" Baboo asked.

"Yeah! We'll trap the people in another dimension and make it easy to hunt the Rangers down!" Squatt enthused.

"My Lord, the dimensional vortex beam is ready!" Finster reported.

"Soon, every one of them will be our prisoners!" Goldar proclaimed, while Rita nodded in agreement.

"And while the Rangers are busy battling Cyclopsis," Zedd finished, "Rito, you'll take Squatt and Baboo and search for the second lost Power Coin!"

"There's another Power Coin?" Squatt and Baboo looked at each other in surprise.

"Yes, you simpering idiots," Zedd growled. "The eighth coin, while not as powerful as the Dragon Coin, will still provide us with a powerful warrior to aid us in defeating those pesky Power Brats once and for all!"

"Gotcha, Ed...just lemme run and get Waldo and we'll be all set!" Rito turned and started to head off, but Zedd stopped him.

"Leave that rock here, you worthless lunkhead!" Zedd snarled, not even bothering to correct Rito about his name. "Now get down there and find that coin! Finster, while they're searching, you construct the device needed to infuse the coin with the Dark Energy!"

"As you wish, my Emperor," Finster replied.

* * *

"So, you guys ready to morph?" Jeff asked the others.

"Definitely!" Marcus enthused. "I can't wait to impress Jenna!"

"Speaking of Jenna, I haven't seen her at all," Mischa observed.

"I haven't seen Caden, either," J.W. put in.

"They're probably just late," Kendra assured the group. "I don't think anyone would want to miss meeting the Power Rangers."

* * *

"My Emperor, at your command, all of Angel Grove will be beamed into another dimension!" Goldar proclaimed.

"Zap them now!" Zedd ordered with an evil cackle.

"Goodbye, sniveling citizens!" Goldar called down to Earth.

* * *

The as-yet-unmorphed Rangers and the rest of the crowd at the park were standing around listening to a speech by the Mayor when suddenly she and several other people vanished into thin air. Screams of surprise came from several people at the unexpected disappearances.

"Where'd she go?" Marcus asked.

"What's going on?" J.W. wanted to know.

At that moment, the rest of Angel Grove's citizens vanished, leaving the six Rangers standing there.

"Where's everyone gone?" Taylor asked, glancing around in a panic.

"The whole park is empty!" Kendra put in.

"Jeff to Command Center," the White Ranger spoke into his communicator, "we have an emergency!"

_"YES. I'M ALREADY PICKING IT UP, RANGERS,"_ Zordon's voice replied. _"A POWERFUL VORTEX BEAM EMANATING FROM THE MOON APPEARS TO HAVE ENVELOPED EVERYONE IN ANGEL GROVE."_

"Zedd!" Taylor stated.

_"I've got something, Zordon!"_ Alpha broke in.

_"GOOD. NOW LOCK THE SCANNER ONTO THE DIMENSIONAL BEAM AND TRACK ITS COORDINATES CAREFULLY, ALPHA,"_ Zordon instructed. _"WATCH FOR ANY MOVEMENT TOWARD EARTH."_

_"But how can the moon move?"_ Alpha asked in perplexion.

_"THE MOON CANNOT, ALPHA, BUT LORD ZEDD'S PALACE CAN,"_ Zordon replied. _"IF HE BRINGS IT TO EARTH AS I FEAR HE MAY, IT WILL GREATLY INCREASE HIS POWER."_

* * *

"Time to travel, my dear!" Zedd informed Rita.

"To power my battle zord the palace must be close to it!" Goldar stated.

"That's why I'm taking us to Earth!" Zedd replied.

"Where I shall destroy the puny Power Rangers once and for all!" Goldar finished.

The palace lifted off the moon's surface and rocketed toward the Earth, planting itself smack in the middle of downtown Angel Grove.

* * *

The impact of the palace rocked the ground.

"We've got big trouble down here, Zordon!" Jeff spoke into his communicator.

"Summon Cyclopsis, my Emperor!" Goldar requested.

With an evil laugh, Zedd sent another blast from his wand deep into the Earth's core, awakening Cyclopsis. The huge zord came out of the ground and strode off on its mission of destruction.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Command Center, Alpha was reporting on the effects of Zedd's palace's arrival.

"With his palace right in downtown Angel Grove, Lord Zedd will be ten times more powerful, Zordon!" the little robot exclaimed worriedly.

"YES, ALPHA," Zordon replied. "ACTIVATE THE VIEWING GLOBE."

"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi!" Alpha muttered, doing as Zordon instructed and then hurrying over to see what was going on.

"GOLDAR, AS I SUSPECTED," Zordon stated. "AND WITH THE POWER OF ZEDD'S PALACE, THEY HAVE ACTIVATED CYCLOPSIS, GOLDAR'S WAR ZORD. IT LOOKS VERY BAD INDEED."

"We haven't seen this monster in 10,000 years!" Alpha exclaimed.

"RANGERS, YOU MUST MORPH TO DOWNTOWN ANGEL GROVE AND ACTIVATE MEGAZORD," Zordon instructed.

* * *

"It's Morphin' time!" Jeff stated.

"Titanus!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Upon arrival in downtown, the Rangers raised their hands to the sky.

"We need Dinozord power, now!"

"I call on the power of Titanus!"

As their zords arrived, the Rangers leapt into their cockpits.

"Log on!" Jeff ordered.

"Mastodon, ready to kick it!" Marcus informed.

"Triceratops online!" Mischa confirmed.

"Saber-Toothed Tiger ready!" Kendra put in.

"Pterodactyl ready to rock!" Taylor added.

"Tyrannosarus, battle-ready...power up your crystals, now!" J.W. gave final confirmation and ordered all but Jeff.

"2...1...power up!" Marcus, Taylor, Mischa, and Kendra responded.

"Let's show 'em some Megazord power!" J.W. replied.

The zords came together to form the Megazord tank, and as the main cockpit activated, J.W. ordered, "Switching to battle mode!"

"Morphin'!" the others responded.

_"Megazord sequence has been initiated!"_ the computer responded, and the Megazord transformed, the computer announcing, _"Megazord, activated!"_ as the sequence completed.

"Let's do it!" Jeff replied, moving Titanus forward.

"Right!" those in the Megazord's cockpit replied.

"Goldar's driving Cyclopsis!" J.W. cautioned the others.

* * *

In Cyclopsis' cockpit, Goldar laughed evilly.

"Attack!" he ordered his war zord, and Cyclopsis moved forward into battle.

* * *

"Here he comes!" Marcus exclaimed.

"We can't allow him to gain a strategic advantage...we have to match him move for move!" Mischa told J.W..

"If we don't, we're finished!" Kendra put in.

"Right!" J.W. replied, tensing his hands on the controls.

Cyclopsis struck the first blow, a punch to the Megazord's chest that sent it staggering backwards slightly. The Rangers recovered and tried to get a good blow in, but five more hits by Cyclopsis sent them reeling and had them rethinking their strategy.

* * *

On the palace balcony and in Cyclopsis' cockpit, Lord Zedd, Rita, and Goldar laughed gleefully.

After Goldar landed two more good hits on the Megazord, he pressed a button on the main console, opening two missile compartments on Cyclopsis' chest and sending a barrage of missiles at the Megazord, which crashed to the ground under the blows.

With Megazord down, Cyclopsis drew on energy from Lord Zedd's palace and blasted several tall buildings around it into rubble, some of which cascaded down onto Titanus, trapping the carrier zord under a mound of debris.

* * *

"Guys, I'm trapped!" Jeff reported. "I need help getting out!"

"J.W., we've got to get up...we can't let him trash the whole city!" Taylor urged.

"I'm trying, but Cyclopsis is too powerful! I'll try and get the controls to respond...patch in the emergency pods and give me full power!" the Red Ranger ordered.

With this done, the Megazord slowly got to its feet, thereby drawing Cyclopsis' attention. The massive war zord headed in the Megazord's direction, ready to begin Round Two.

* * *

Meanwhile, the catastrophe that had befallen Angel Grove went unnoticed by Caden and Jenna as they headed to the old rock quarry to collect samples for their project. Caden parked the truck in an open area and they headed over to the nearby hillside to start collecting samples.

When the Lunar Palace arrived on Earth, the shockwave was felt in the quarry as well, but it was only minor. Even so, Caden tensed, dropping into a defensive stance as though he expected the world to implode on his head in a matter of seconds.

"What was that?" he asked, and Jenna shrugged.

"Probably a small earthquake, but what'd you expect from California?"

Caden conceded the point and resumed work. A few minutes later, Jenna's voice called out excitedly.

"Oh, wow...look at this rock!"

Caden walked over to see Jenna looking impressed at a large, deep purple rock.

"Holy crap...I think you found an amethyst," he murmured, impressed himself.

The two teens dug the rock out and added it to their collection when there was the faint thunder of explosions from the direction of Angel Grove.

"Were those explosions?" Jenna asked, worried.

"There must've been another monster attack," Caden replied.

Jenna's eyes widened. "Oh, my God...my sister's home alone right now...I need to get back there!"

Caden hefted the sample bag onto his shoulder.

"Let's go," he replied.

The two teens raced for the truck, got in, and Caden gunned the motor, roaring off back to Angel Grove. As they neared the city, they were greeted with the sight of downtown resembling Beirut and the Megazord in full combat with what had to be the ugliest robot either Caden or Jenna had ever seen...and the Megazord appeared to be losing badly.

Making a split-second decision, Caden swerved over to the side of the road and parked, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out.

"Slide over!" he ordered.

"What are you doing?" Jenna asked frantically.

"Take my truck and go find your sister...I've got some business to take care of," Caden replied.

"Caden, are you insane?" Jenna asked. "There's no way you could possibly help the Power Rangers! You're skilled in martial arts, yeah, but that thing they're fighting is a little big to take on all by yourself!"

Caden - unfamiliar with Zordon's rules - grabbed his morpher from his back pocket and smiled at Jenna.

"Just between us, I've got a little something that'll help me out."

He showed Jenna his morpher. The girl's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates even as the battle overhead resumed and Caden slammed the driver's side door.

"Go!" he yelled, and Jenna didn't have to be told twice.

Even as his truck disappeared down the street, Caden held the morpher in front of him.

"It's Morphin' time! Dragonzord!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the Megazord had apparently gained a second wind, for it wasn't too long into Round Two that the Rangers managed to score their first hit on Cyclopsis.

"All right!" J.W. exclaimed in triumph.

In response, Cyclopsis lowered its head as if to charge, but instead shot a powerful laser beam out of the horn on top of its head, nearly frying the Megazord completely. Inside the cockpit, the Rangers staggered under the blow.

"J.W., we need help!" Marcus stated.

"I know!" the Red Ranger groaned as he struggled to maintain control.

Suddenly salvation came in the form of a familiar six-note tune that had never sounded sweeter.

"The Green Ranger...look!" Kendra shouted, pointing to Caden standing on a nearby rooftop, calling the Dragonzord to action and leaping into its cockpit when it arrived.

"Am I too late to join this party?" the Green Ranger quipped as the Dragonzord walked over to stand by the Megazord, and he got his first look at the Ranger's latest opponent.

"Wow, are you ugly!" the Green Ranger glanced at Cyclopsis. "I've heard of the phrase 'a face only a mother could love', but you take the taco, pal! Eat missiles, you spiked space freak!"

With that, the Dragonzord aimed and shot missiles at Cyclopsis from its fingertips, finally scoring some hits on the massive war zord...or so the Rangers thought. As it turned out, Cyclopsis shook the hits off like they were nothing and headed straight for the Green Ranger's zord.

"Try this!" Caden stated, whipping the Dragonzord around in the hopes of clocking Cyclopsis with its tail. Instead, Cyclopsis ducked, the Dragonzord's tail went right over its head, and when Cyclopsis straightened up it landed a hard kick to the Dragonzord's stomach area.

"Man, Goldar's new toy is a tough one!" Caden muttered.

With Cyclopsis preoccupied, the Megazord saw an opportunity snd headed in to attack, but at the last minute Cyclopsis turned to face it.

* * *

"Time to feel the power of Cyclopsis!" Goldar snarled from Cyclopsis' cockpit.

* * *

Suddenly. the space around Cyclopsis' feet glowed red-orange, stopping the Megazord in its tracks. When it looked around in surprise, the evil zord raised its arms, lifting the Megazord into the air and tossing it like a sack of potatoes to land at the feet of the Dragonzord.

"Everybody okay in there?" Caden called over to the Megazord, and received a confirmation from J.W. in return. He was even more surprised to hear Zordon's voice echo through his cockpit.

_"GREEN RANGER, COMBINE YOUR ZORD WITH THE MASTODON, TRICERATOPS, AND SABER-TOOTH TIGER DINOZORDS TO FORM THE DRAGONZORD IN BATTLE MODE."_

"Let's do it!" Caden responded.

"Right!" those in the Megazord cockpit seconded.

While the Megazord separated, the Dragonzord's chestplate separated from the rest of the zord, its legs folded up, and its arms withdrew into its sides, which came forward and together onto its chest to form a new chest shield. The zord's lower jaw dropped down to form the new robot's face, and the entire zord lowered down onto the leg shapes of the Triceratops and Saber-Tooth Tiger Dinozords. The Mastodon Dinozord's arm formation connected to the Dragonzord's back, and it's normal chestplate and tail combined together to form a powerful drill staff.

J.W. went back to his Dinozord cockpit, and Caden took J.W.'s place.

"All right, guys, let's move in!" he ordered, as the zords tensed for Round Three.

"Take that!" Goldar snarled from Cyclopsis' cockpit.

Cyclopsis projected the same forcefield that had enabled it to lift the Megazord off the ground toward the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord, causing a series of serious explosions that rocked J.W.'s zord severely and sent it crashing to the ground.

"And you take this!" Caden replied, sending a blast of energy from the Dragonzord Battle Mode's head crest. It scored a direct hit on Cyclopsis, but instead of damaging the powerful zord, Cyclopsis simply absorbed the energy and then flung it back twice as hard, sending the Rangers reeling.

"Yeah, I saw that one going a lot differently in my head," Caden groaned as they attempted to recover.

* * *

"This is almost too easy!" Goldar crowed.

Cyclopsis fired another barrage of missiles, causing even more damage and sending the Dragonzord Battle Mode sprawling. Then, to add insult to injury, Cyclopsis walked over to the prone zord and slammed its foot down on the Dragonzord Battle Mode's chest plate.

* * *

"SMASH THEM!" Zedd roared from the balcony of the palace.

* * *

Cyclopsis brought his foot down twice more before kicking the Dragonzord Battle Mode away like a misshapen soccer ball.

With an evil laugh, Goldar pressed a button that send Cyclopsis' fists shooting out on cables. The hands grabbed both the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord and the Dragonzord Battle Mode, lifted them up, and then powerful blasts of electricity coursed through the cables and fried the zords before letting them go, sending them crashing to the ground yet again.

"They're both down...now to take them out!" Goldar crowed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jeff had finally managed to work Titanus free.

"Titanus Mega-Blaster, fire!" he ordered.

Titanus blasted Cyclopsis with its powerful cannons, at last giving Goldar's war zord a taste of its own medicine and giving the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord and the Dragonzord Battle Mode a chance to recover.

"All systems back on line!" Mischa reported as the Dragonzord Battle Mode got to its feet again.

_"RANGERS,"_ Zordon's voice echoed through the various cockpits once more, _"COMBINE ALL YOUR ZORDS TOGETHER TO FORM THE MIGHTY ULTRAZORD."_

"Right...initiating Ultrazord sequence now!" Jeff replied.

The Dragonzord Battle Mode separated, with the Megazord reforming and the Dragonzord unfolding to fit atop the Megazord's shoulders. Titanus' back opened up, its neck dropped down, and its tail separated to form two massive cannons, on on either shoulder of the carrier zord. The Dragonzord's chest plate fastened onto its front, and the Megazord - with the Dragonzord atop its shoulders - dropped into Titanus' open back.

As the lights came on in the Ultrazord cockpit, Jeff was in the front seat, with J.W. behind him and Caden in the very back. Marcus was to J.W.'s left and Mischa to his right, with Kendra behind Mischa and Taylor behind Marcus.

Cyclopsis struck a battle pose, and Titanus roared in response.

"ULTRAZORD, POWER UP! LOCK ON AND FIRE!" all seven Rangers ordered.

The massive zord let fly with every gun in its arsenal, and not even Cyclopsis could withstand such a barrage. Fatal explosions tore through its innards, and in the cockpit, Goldar could only stare in astonishment.

"My zord...this is impossible!" he roared, seconds before teleporting himself out of danger.

The massive zord crashed to the ground and exploded, its head flying through the air and landing in the middle of downtown. In the Ultrazord cockpit, the Rangers cheered and celebrated.

"Don't lose your head, asshole!" Caden laughed.

* * *

"WHY, YOU...!" Zedd shrieked, beyond enraged at the recent turn of events.

"Let's get them, Zeddy!" Rita encouraged, and he husband nodded in response. The couple raised their staffs in the air and aimed them at the Ultrazord from the palace balcony, sending a massive energy burst toward the zords.

* * *

The blast opened up a huge sinkhole underneath Titanus, and it slowly started to sink into the ground, as the earth collapsed under the immense weight of the massive zord. Titanus roared its distress as the J.W. and the others watched from their own cockpit.

"I'm sinking...guys, help!" Jeff called out.

The Megazord walked over and grabbed onto Titanus' neck and attempted to pull the carrier zord out, but with little success.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Zedd snarled, and he and Rita fired another energy burst at the Megazord. This blast cut the Megazord's grip on Titanus, forcing it back as the carrier zord continued to sink into the Earth.

"Get the hell out of there!" Caden yelled, and Jeff didn't need to be told twice. The White Ranger teleported to the Megazord cockpit, where the seven Rangers watched as Titanus vanished into the Earth. Seconds later a massive explosion occurred, sending up a huge fireball and causing the Rangers to fear the worst.

"My zord!" The White Ranger gasped, and Taylor grasped his arm in a comforting gesture.

* * *

On the palace balcony, Zedd and Rita celebrated their victory.

"Titanus is gone! Now what?" Mischa asked.

"I don't know," Jeff replied, still grief-stricken over the destruction of his zord.

Suddenly, Zedd appeared on a nearby rooftop.

"That's right, Rangers...your powerful Titanus is gone! And you're next!" he laughed evilly as he rose his staff into the air. "I summon the evil sorcerer Lokar!"

A beam of energy shot into the sky from the 'Z' on Zedd's staff, causing the sky to darken and dark clouds to quickly blow across a roiling sky. Suddenly two eyes opened in the sky and then a gigantic floating head appeared.

The Rangers watched in growing uncertainty from the Megazord's cockpit.

"Now there's something you don't see every day," Caden quipped upon Lokar's sudden appearance.

"You, Lokar, shall be the final ingredient in my master plan!" Zedd crowed. "And what a beauty, too!"

Lokar hummed his approval as Zedd continued.

"With your power we can recreate Cyclopsis, and all the world is ours! So be it!"

With that, Zedd and Rita raised their staffs and pointed them toward the ground, opening a massive chasm in the Earth, from which fire and explosions came broiling out. A further massive explosion occurred in downtown Angel Grove, and when it dissapated, there stood Cyclopsis, undamaged as if nothing had touched it.

Caden laughed softly. "Oh, crap...we are sooo _screwed_," he muttered.

Jeff sighed resignedly. "We've got no choice at the moment...let's get out of here and head back to the Command Center." He turned to the Green Ranger. "Please...come with us. We need all the help we can get right now."

Caden nodded, knowing the White Ranger was right. With that said, the seven Rangers teleported to the Command Center, and the Megazord and Dragonzord returning to their various hiding places.

* * *

If Zordon and Alpha were surprised by seven Rangers arriving instead of six, they didn't show it. Upon arrival, all but the Green Ranger immediately demorphed. Behind his helmet, Caden's jaw nearly hit the floor as he saw the six teens who'd befriended him at Angel Grove High School were the people behind the helmets.

"WELCOME, GREEN RANGER," Zordon greeted. "I AM ZORDON, AN INTER-DIMENSIONAL BEING CAUGHT IN A TIME WARP."

Caden turned and gaped at the image of the floating head in a tube, then turned in surprise as Alpha walked over and introduced himself as well.

"YOUR FELLOW RANGERS HAVE TRUSTED YOU WITH THEIR IDENTITIES," Zordon stated. "NOW I WILL ASK IF YOU WOULD EXTEND THEM THE SAME COURTESY."

The Green Ranger nodded after a moment and demorphed...leaving Caden Stark standing in his place. At the sight of Caden, surprised but pleased smiles spread over the faces of the other six Rangers. To J.W.'s discomfort, Kendra seemed particularly pleased at this turn of events.

Jeff stepped forward and extended his hand. "Will you join us?"

Caden grasped it without hesitation. "Absolutely...in a world of incredibly ugly floating heads with really bad attitudes and resurrecting evil robots that are hard as hell to defeat, us Power Rangers need to stick together."

The others laughed and one by one came over and shook Caden's hand or - in the case of Taylor and Kendra - hugged him, despite Caden's slight discomfort.

Tinny explosions from the Viewing Globe brought an end to the levity. The seven teens crowded around the Viewing Globe to watch a newly-resurrected Cyclopsis as it lay waste to Angel Grove.

"Lokar's out of control," J.W. stated.

"And Zedd's reconstructed Cyclopsis," Marcus added.

"Zordon, what are we gonna do?" Taylor asked, looking to the Ranger's mentor for a plan.

"NOTHING, UNTIL YOUR ZORDS ARE REENERGIZED. ONLY THEN CAN YOU BATTLE LOKAR." Zordon replied.

"So if we blast him, we stop Zedd and the others, right?" Caden asked.

"YES, CADEN," Zordon confirmed. "ALPHA IS SCANNING THE COMPUTER MEMORY FOR MORE DATA ON LOKAR. IT SHOULD PROVIDE A CLUE TO HELP YOU DEFEAT HIM."

"Zordon, what about all the people?" Mischa asked. "Where are they?"

"MY SENSORS INDICATE THAT THEY ARE ALL SAFE," Zordon assured the group. "BUT THEY ARE CURRENTLY OUT OF REACH IN RITA AND ZEDD'S DIMENSIONAL VORTEX."

"We're their only hope," J.W. stated bleakly, causing the others to look at him briefly before turning their attention back to Zordon.

"THAT IS CORRECT, RANGERS," the Eltarian confirmed. "BECAUSE IF YOU LOSE THIS BATTLE, THEY WILL ALL BE TRAPPED IN ZEDD AND RITA'S VORTEX...FOREVER."

"Great..." Caden muttered as J.W. closed his eyes in frustration and Jeff groaned.

* * *

Jenna pulled Caden's truck haphazardly into her driveway, her panic at finding her sister increased by the fact that Angel Grove itself seemed like a ghost town. Upon entering the house and tossing the rock sample bag onto the kitchen table, Jenna nearly lost it when she found a note from Kelli stating she'd gone to the function at the park and would meet her older sister there.

The teen plopped down into one of the nearby chairs, unsure as to what to do next. From the sounds coming from downtown, either the battle was still going on, or the Rangers had been defeated and the evil from the moon was now ravaging the city.

A sharp crack from the bag of rocks quickly drew her attention, and when she looked at the bag, she was surprised to see it glowing. Opening the bag, she saw the beautiful purple rock she'd found at the quarry earlier was now glowing brightly. She was afraid to touch it, but the rock suddenly ceased glowing and then crumbled apart to reveal something had been inside it.

Not wanting to burn herself, Jenna simply overturned the bag, causing the various rocks to fall out onto the kitchen table...along with a gold coin with the imprint of a Stegosaurus on it. Jenna's jaw dropped when she saw the coin, for anybody in Angel Grove would automatically know what it was. She picked it up and looked at it, knowing her life had just changed dramatically.

"Oh, my God..." she trailed off, stunned.

****

TBC

R&R!

**

* * *

**

UP NEXT:

**What will be the outcome of the battle with Lokar? And will Jenna find success in her first battle as a Ranger?**


End file.
